• A member of medical staff carries a swab test at a drive-thru testing facility at Bahrain Exhibition Center, in Manama, Bahrain. Reuters
    A member of medical staff carries a swab test at a drive-thru testing facility at Bahrain Exhibition Center, in Manama, Bahrain. Reuters
  • Truck driver Salim Omrah, 52, walks through a disinfection gate at Ibrahim Al-Khalil complex at Zakho outskirt, Dohuk governoate, Iraq. Reuters
    Truck driver Salim Omrah, 52, walks through a disinfection gate at Ibrahim Al-Khalil complex at Zakho outskirt, Dohuk governoate, Iraq. Reuters
  • A worker disinfects the hands of a woman before she enters a supermarket in Sanaa, Yemen. EPA
    A worker disinfects the hands of a woman before she enters a supermarket in Sanaa, Yemen. EPA
  • A factory worker packages disposable protective masks along a production line in Morocco's Casablanca. AFP
    A factory worker packages disposable protective masks along a production line in Morocco's Casablanca. AFP
  • A Lebanese Maronite Christian priest leads a prosession in a street on Good Friday, in the dominantly Christian suburb of Dekwaneh, east of the capital Beirut. AFP
    A Lebanese Maronite Christian priest leads a prosession in a street on Good Friday, in the dominantly Christian suburb of Dekwaneh, east of the capital Beirut. AFP
  • Newly-wed Palestinians embrace as they stand inside a beauty salon in the Deheisheh camp for Palestinian refugees near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. AFP
    Newly-wed Palestinians embrace as they stand inside a beauty salon in the Deheisheh camp for Palestinian refugees near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. AFP
  • A Palestinian man reads the Koran alone at the al-Qazazin mosque in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron. AFP
    A Palestinian man reads the Koran alone at the al-Qazazin mosque in the occupied West Bank town of Hebron. AFP
  • The Cairo Tower lights up with text encouraging Egyptians to stay home and safe, in Cairo, Egypt. EPA
    The Cairo Tower lights up with text encouraging Egyptians to stay home and safe, in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

Almost 1,000 Saudis repatriated from Bahrain amid coronavirus crisis


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More than 950 Saudi nationals had been evacuated from Bahrain, the Saudi ambassador to Bahrain confirmed on Twitter.

Prince Sultan bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, appointed in January, confirmed 956 people were brought back to Saudi Arabia in the last four days and thanked Bahraini authorities for their assistance during the coronavirus crisis.

“I would also like to thank and appreciate the concerned authorities in the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain for their efforts in facilitating the procedures for the evacuation of the stranded Saudi citizens and everyone who contributed to the success of the evacuation process,” he wrote on Saturday morning.

Earlier last week, the ambassador had confirmed those stranded would be brought back to Saudi Arabia by bus along the King Fahd Causeway and taken to the Eastern Province.

All would be given medical checks before being transferred to hotels for a period of quarantine.

The repatriation was “In compliance with the directives of King Salman and the crown prince to facilitate the procedures for the return of stranded citizens," he added.

The returning Saudis received medical checks before entering the Kingdom and were placed in specified hotels for quarantine upon arrival.

It came as the foreign ministers of both nations held a phone call to discuss political and security developments in the country, the Bahrain News Agency reported.

Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah Al Saud stressed their commitment to further develop bilateral co-ordination and  called for joint cooperation to face the spread of Covid-19.

Bahrain has registered 998 cases of the virus, 551 recoveries and six deaths. Saudi Arabia has 3,651 cases, 685 recoveries and 47 deaths.